V 



F 232 
.C2 C2 

copv 1 A 

HAND-BOOK 

OF 

CAROLINE COUNTY, 

VIRGINIA. 



PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY OF THE BOARD OF 
SUPERVISORS OF THE COUNTY. 

1907 



E. R. COGHILL, Clerk op County. 
E. S. COGHILL, 
T. C. VALENTINE, 



Deputy Clerks. 



1907 

ECHO PRINTING CO. 

Bowling Green. Va. 



/ 



Gift 

a 



a lA^ 



I T. D. COG HILL, 1 

Real Estate Agent. t 

REAL ESTATE BOUGHT AND SOLD, 1 

Bowling Green, Caroline Co., Va. t 

A. B. CHANDLER. F . w , CHANDLER. 

CHANDLER & CHANDLER, 

ATTORNEYS AT LAW, 

BowJing Green, Caroline County, Virginia. 

%##%%# 

Practice in all the Courts of Caroline and adjoining counties and in the 
Supreme Court of Appeals at Richmond, Virginia. 



$ * 

| W..LCOBB, | 

Lumber Manufacturer, 

PENOLA, CAROLINE COUNTY, VA. f 

V I 

A. C. GARRISON, GUINEYS, VA. 
al Estate and Locating Agent. 

FARMS AND HOMES 

^argest and best list, best locations, best bargains. I am formerly from 

Pennsylvania, have lived in different parts of the west. In my 

new Ca1 alogue you will find information you are looking for 

The leading Real Estate man of Eastern Virginia. 






PREFACE. 



This Hand-Book of Caroline county is published through an appro- 
priation made by the County Board of Supervisors, to meet the numerous 
enquiries from persons seeking homes in Virginia. 

A fair exhibit of the products of the county will be found m the hall 
at the Exposition and inspection of them is invited. 






HAND-BOOK 

-OF- 
CAROLINE COUNTY, VA. 

GEOGRAPHICAL. 

Caroline though generally classed as one of the Tide-water counties 
of the State, is in fact the dividing line between that section and middle 
Virginia. 

It was formed in 1727 from the counties of Essex, King & Queen 
and King William. 

It is about 30 miles long and 20 miles wide, and contains 
341,430 acres of land, valued at $1,640,996.14. Value of town lots 
$134,015.00, making a total value of real estate of $1,775,011 14 Value 
of personal property $519,407.00, giving a total taxable value of 
$2,294,418.14. 

Caroline is bounded on the north by the Rappahannock river (the 
counties of King George and Stafford being opposite,) on the sou'th by 
the Pamunkey and North Anna rivers, (the county of Hanover being 
opposite,) on the east by the counties of Essex, King & Queen and King 
William, and on the west by the county of Spotsylvania. 

It is drained by the Rappahannock, the Mattaponi, the North Anna 
and Pamunkey rivers and their tributaries, which are numerous and is 
one of the best watered counties in Virginia. The various rivers and 
creeks give much bottom land which is very productive, and afford fine 
water power and mill sites. 

The proportion of unimprovable land in the county will not exceed 
twenty acres in one thousand. 

The northern boundary of the county extends to within eight miles 
of the town of Fredericksburg whose population is 6000, and the southern 
boundary to within twenty miles of Richmond the capital city of the 
State, whose population is over 100,000. 



4 HAND-BOOK OF CAROLINE COUNTY. 

Transportation facilities are unusually good, both by rail and water. 
The Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac railroad, (a section of the 
great Atlantic Coast Line) passes through the entire length of the 
county, and nearly the center of it, from north to south, with five 
regular freight and passenger station, viz: Guinea, Woodford's Lane, 
Milford, Penola and Rutherglen, besides numerous sidings, for the ac- 
commodation of its patrons. The Rappahannock river affords ample 
direct steam transportation to Baltimore, Md. and Norfolk, Va., with 
connections for the entire Atlantic Seaboard; and sail transportation at 
low rates of freight to the whole Atlantic coast from Maine to Florida: 
while the southern portion of the county has easy access to the Chesa- 
peake and Ohio railroad, which is a part of the Newport News and 
Mississippi Valley trunk line between the Seaboard and the West. 

The soil of the county is easily cultivated, readily improved, and 
when treated in a farmer- like way, very productive. It produces winter 
wheat with a range of from ten to thirty bushels per acre, corn from 
fifteen to seventy-five bushels per acre. German and red clover grow lux- 
uriantly on the low lands and improved uplands, and orchard grass, timothy 
and herds grass are grown to a large extent. The several varieties of field 
peas and soja beans are grown in great abundance, both as an invigo- 
rator to the soil and as a forage crop. Oats, both spring and winter, are 
successfully grown. In a word, all of the cereals whose habitat is near 
the 38th. parallel, which passes near the center of the county, abound. 
The chief industry in the southern and middle portions of the county is 
the cultivation of bright tobacco, both sun and flue cured, for which 
Caroline has long been famous and for which the highest prices are ob- 
tained. 

Sweet and Irish potatoes are grown with a surplus for market, and 
all vegetable products abound. The lands along the line of the Rich- 
mond, Fredericksburg and Potomac railroad are peculiarly adapted to 
the trucking business, and that interest, whenever tried, has proven 
successful. The facilities with which the markets of Richmond, Wash- 
ington, Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York can be reached (being 
only 12 to 16 hours from the latter) make this portion of the 
county an inviting and remunerative field for parties wishing to engage 
in this work. In the wide and productive Valley of the Rappahannock, 
large crops of corn, wheat,, rye, clover and hay are raised. Stock farms 
are increasing and more attention is being paid to this industry each 



HAND-BOOK OF CAROLINE COUNTY. 5 

year with satisfactory results. 

All fruits thrive, and apples, (especially the celebrated winesap,) 
peaches, pears, grapes, strawberries, raspberries &c, &c, are grown, 
though chiefly as yet for home use. Blackberries, dewberries, huckle- 
bei-ries and black raspberries are abundant in the wild state. 

The native stock is being improved. There are stock farms breed- 
ing successfully, Jersey, Guernsey, Red Polled and Short-horned cattle; 
South-down, Cotswold and Hampshiredown sheep; Berkshire and Duroc 
Jersey Red swine, and improved poultry. 

The dairy interest is fast gaining a hold on our people, and the ready 
sale found for gilt edge butter in the markets of Richmond and Wash- 
ington affords ample encouragement. 

The climate of Caroline leaves nothing to be desired. The season 
during which work is suspended being only a week or more in which ice 
is secured. The extremes of heat and cold are rarely felt, and the 
seasons are generally good. There is an exceptional absence of storms, 
and blizzards, hurricanes and northers are unknown. The healthfulness 
of the county is largely insured by the abundance of pure, soft drinking 
water, and malarial fever is rare where any sanitary precautions are 
taken by individuals and there is an almost total exemption from typhoid 
and other dangerous fevers, so fatal in some sections. 

Lumber abounds. Pine, oak, hickory, walnut, beech, and other 
timber is in abundance, and can be purchased in merchantable condition 
at the saw mills, of which there are 38 in the county, at from $10 to $14 
1000 feet, thus affording facilities to the man of moderate means not 
easily found elsewhere. 

Land in Caroline can be bought at prices varying from $5 to $40 per 
acre with dwellings and all necessary farm buildings. And there can be 
bought many old homesteads with well built and commodious dwellings, 
that need only the touch of enterprise and a little capital to make them 
among the most desirable homes to be found. 

The tax rate is most reasonable, ranging approximately to sixty 
cents per hundred dollars of valuation, which includes school and all 
county levies. 

The moral tone of the people is excellent as evidenced by the criminal 
dockets of both the County Court and those of the Justices of the Peace. 

Bowling Green, the County seat, with a population of 500 is situated 
near the center of the county, two miles from Mil ford station on the 



6 HAND-BOOK OF CAROLINE COUNTY. 

Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac railroad, before mentioned. It 
contains the county court house, four churches, a number of carraige 
and wagon factories, with blacksmith shops, carpenters, tinners, &c, 
&c. There are large male and female academies liberally patronized, 
which together with the primary and graded free schools, afford ample 
educational advantages. The Caroline Echo, a widely circulated week- 
ly newspaper devoted to the interests of the county and good govern- 
ment generally, is published there. The town is becoming popular as a 
summer residence for Richmond people, and is admirably located on a 
plateau that gives perfect natural drainage. It being chiefly a residen- 
tial town, the houses and yards are kept in fine order and present a fresh 
and most inviting appearance, with wide clean streets and sidewalks, 
abundant shade trees and lovely flowers. There are five daily mails, 
and the New York morning dailies can be read at dinner. 

Port Royal is situated on the Rappahannock river. It is one of the 
"Old Virginia" towns, and in days gone by enjoyed a large tobacco 
trade direct with England. Its markets are readily supplied with fish, 
oysters and all the delicacies salt water produces. It contains attractive 
residences and has several large stores and numerous churches. 

Churches are numerous throughout the county and well attended, 
with flourishing Sunday Schools, embracing the Baptist, Methodist, 
Episcopal and Christian denominations. Public schools are in full oper- 
ation in every portion of the county. 

In thus bringing before the public the claims of Caroline county as 
an inviting home for those looking for a change, care has been taken to 
make no wild or extravagant statements. A personal inspection of our 
county will convince strangers that we mean what we say and that we 
have made no false assertions. Our people are eager for new life and 
enterprise and increased capital. We have a hearty welcone for all 
honest, intelligent and thrifty settlers and are prepared to make their 
coming amongst us pleasant and profitable. We claim that for men 
with small means at their disposal and with families growing up around 
them, Caroline county offers more inducements than any other section. 
We have a healthful climate. Cheap and productive lands, growing as 
wide a range of cereals, vegetables and fruits as any other portion of 
the country, with ample transportation to near by markets. Good edu- 
cational and religious advantages. Conservative laws, low tax rates 
and a law abiding, moral people. We claim that a larger return for 



HAND-BOOK OF CAROLINE COUNTY. 7 

capital and enterprise expended in our county will be realized than can 
be obtained elsewhere. The naturally generous soil easily cultivated, 
will produce more that adds to the cheapness of healthful living. The 
uniformity and mildness of climate render stock raising easy, with an 
absence of blizzards, flies, gnats and other serious draw backs to be 
found in the western States. Some of the most noted race horses this 
country has ever known, and whose descendants are even now reaping 
fortunes for their owners, were reared in this immediate locality. 

Not only to men of limited means, looking for cheap and comfortable 
homes, do we offer inducements, but also to investors and speculators. 
Large farms can be bought readily that will pay a net rental of four to 
six per centum per annum, with a certainty almost of sales in the' near 
future at a paying advance. The lands have but seldom changed owners 
except by inheritance, hence the titles are good and easily traced. The 
nearness of Caroline to the city of Washington, that is certain soon to 
become the richest residential city of America and the center of Ameri- 
can civilization, is an inducement that should be well weighed. We are 
only two hours by rail from Washington. 

The citizens of Caroline have determined to place their county in 
the forefront of progressiveness. We extend a cordial invitation to all 
.seeking homes and to all seeking investments for surplus funds, to visit 
our county, mingle with our people and see for themselves that the 
statements herein contained are sober facts. 



TRUCKING. 

The lands on either side of the R. F. & P. R. R. offer peculiar at- 
tractions to investors with small capital. Besides affording numerous 
sites and facilities for the manufacture of the lumber product — which is 
convenient— into building materials, wagon material, barrels and boxes, 
broom and other handles, shuttles, wood pulp, &c, the soil, climate and 
facilities of transportation should make this eventually one of the great- 
est truck and fruit growing sections in the country. 

The railroad crosses and runs along three rivers in passing through 
the county. The soil on the second flat from these rivers and on the in- 
tervening ridges is of light character, which is easily worked, drains 
itself, is warm and dry, responds immediately to improvement, and hav- 
ing almost universally a stratum of clay lying within eight or twelve 



8 HAND-BOOK OF CAROLINE COUNTY. 

inches of the surface, holds improvement, as is evidenced by the con- 
tinued fertility of house and garden spots that have been cultivated for 
years without manure. Any farm product, fruit or vegetable, that can 
be raised in any State in the Union, but Florida or Louisiana, will flour- 
ish here. All varieties of small fruits have their wild or uncultivated 
varieties, and the native grapes have been proved by experiment to have 
fine wine making qualities. There have been no experiments made by 
experienced wine makers in this county, but as much as $100 per acre 
has been realized by the sale of Concord grapes, in barrels, at the de- 
pots. And the Norton Seedling, a native variety, is sold this year at 
$70 per ton to be made into wine 80 miles from the county. All foreign 
grapes, that have been tried, do well. 

The seasons are very nearly as early as on the seaboard, and on 
these quick, dry soils, with railroad transportation, truckers and fruit 
growers can compete, with advantage, with the famed trucking regions 
around Norfolk. The R. F. & P. R. R. is a grand trunk Railroad con- 
necting the transportation lines of the North with the South. It is run 
in connection with the great Pennsylvania Railroad of the North and the 
solid trains of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad and the Seaboard 
Air Line Railroad pass over it. There are about twenty passenger 
trains passing over it daily North and South. This road runs 
through the center of the county from North to South for 30 miles. 
By fast trains, no depot in Caroline is more than two hours time from 
Washington, four hours from Baltimore, and fruit and vegetables may 
be gathered ripe in the afternoon and put into the early market in New 
York city, fresh the next morning. 

Lands near the depot are cheap and the owners who are now "land 
poor" are anxious to sell part of their holdings, and to have more ener- 
getic and enterprising neighbors. Any honest and energetic Northern 
or Western man will be gladly welcomed, and will find good neighbors 
and make aood friends when he gets here. 



TOBACCO. 

Almost every product of the soil suited to this climate grows luxu- 
riantly in Caroline county, Va. The low rich lands along the Rappahan- 
nock, the Mattaponi and North Anna river valleys produce the cereals, 
especially corn, wheat and oats, almost equal to any portion of the 



HAND-BOOK OF CAROLINE COUNTY. 9 

State. Fruits and vegetables of nearly all kinds may, with ordinary 
care and attention, be grown to great perfection and in great abundance. 
The grasses, annual and perennial, of almost every kind, suitable both 
for grazing and hay-making, when proper care is given to their cultiva- 
tion, are most satisfactorily and profitably grown in this county. But to 
the growth of fine tobacco is a large portion of the soil of this county 
more particularly and specially adapted. Nearly all classes of tobacco 
can be grown here successfully. There is a good deal of stiff clay land 
which, when properly fertilized and drained, can be made to produce a 
good article of large, heavy tobacco suitable for export trade, and usual- 
ly known as "Shipping." "Bright" tobacco also, coal and flue cured, 
has been successfully raised here. The experiments of some of our 
planters with this class of tobacco, demonstrated beyond doubt, by the 
quantity raised per acre, and the prices for which it has sold, that 
bright tobacco can be profitably raised on much of the soil in this 
locality. But for the production of fine manufacturing chewing to- 
bacco this county yields the palm to no other locality in Virginia, nor in- 
deed to that of any other State. This particular sweet sun cured tobac- 
co has been for a long period the product of this county, and it has been 
during this whole period an acknowledged fact, by connoisseurs, that the 
best chewing tobacco has been manufactured from Caroline fillers. There 
is in this article a peculiar flavor and aromatic taste which lovers of the 
"weed" most delight in; and which, it is stated by competent authority, 
is not found in samples of similar texture and appearance grown else- 
where. The remark is often heard on the tobacco exchange in Richmond 
as made by buyers and manufacturers that while samples from other sec- 
tions may be as fine in texture, as fancy in appearance, still they had 
not the "chew" of Caroline tobacco. 

This character of soil producing the best chewing tobacco cannot be 
said, however, to occupy the whole surface of Caroline, but is largely 
interspersed nearly all over the county. Nature has so happily arranged 
it that a farm of ordinary size can scarcely be found that has not a 
sufficiency of its surface adapted to the cultivation of fine tobacco, and 
on the same farm, the balance of its surface is well suited to the growth 
of cereals, grapes, fruits, vegetables, etc. 

The soil here best suited to fine tobacco is usually what is termed a 
gray soil, fine and smooth, being almost an equal mixture of sand and 
clay, but generally the silicious property predominating, sometimes 



10 HAND-BOOK OF CAROLINE COUNTY. 

running as high as sixty or seventy per cent. It is usually dry, not stiff 
and heavy, and in fact possesses nearly all the characteristics and com- 
position, in an eminent degree, as ascertained by experiment and analy- 
sis by competent authority, requisite for the production of the finest 
tobacco. The tobacco lands of this section as a general thing have 
about the proper undulation to prevent washing from heavy rains, and 
are sufficiently inclined to escape inundation or excessive and injurious 
saturation in long seasons of wet weather. A comparatively level sur- 
face of this character affords a great advantage in the cultivation and 
saving of the tobacco crop over other localities which are hilly. The 
land here is also easily cultivated, requiring much less team to the plow, 
and less strength with the hoe in the tillage of the tobacco crop than in 
other portions of the State having stiff, stony and hilly surfaces. For 
this reason an inferior class of labor most suited to the heavier opera- 
tions in farming can be advantageously utilized and profitably employed, 
as well in the cultivation as in the saving, curing and preparation of the 
crop for market. The instances which have afforded the largest profits 
in the cultivation of this great staple have been found among the class 
of small farmers having half grown children, the man and the children 
doing the work without any hired labor. Having these local advantages, 
it is confidently asserted that the largest profit from the smallest acre- 
age and least labor can more certainly be secured by the cultivation of 
this class of tobacco on these lands. This tobadco usually sells at a high 
figure, and the rate of profit is increased as the quantity of product and 
surface cultivated to bring a given amount is diminished. The quantity 
usually produced per acre varies of course with season, the preparation 
and tillage, the fertility of the soil, and manuring, and other circumstan- 
ces which may or may not be controlled by the planter. It varies from 
four to five hundred pounds to fifteen or seventeen hundred pounds to the 
acre. The average may be put at seven or eight hundred pounds. The 
price also varies very largely from $5.00 per hundred for inferior quality, 
and running up to $20, $30 and $40 per hundred for the best. A good 
deal of this variation in price is owing to the handling and condition in 
which it is sent to market. Space will not admit in this article any 
attempt to give any instructions as to the proper mode of cultivation, 
handling and preparation for market; this can be readily learned by new 
settlers from reading the various essays published upon the subject, but 
more especially from the planters around by any who may settle here. 



HAND-BOOK OF CAROLINE COUNTY. , 11 

The planters here will ever be found kind and hospitable and ready and 
willing to impart all information upon the subject to all who may pur- 
chase lands or settle here. 

These tobacco lands in this county can be purchased at a very low 
figure. Many farmers having too much land (as nearly all the old inhab- 
itants have) would sell, in quantities to suit without improvement, at $5 
to $10 per acre. Lumber is abundant and cheap. The necessary houses for 
residence and tobacco can be built very cheaply. There are also many 
farms of fine tobacco land well equipped with all necessary houses for to- 
bacco that can be bought at very low figures. While these lands are su- 
perior for the growth of tobacco, they are equally well adapted to stock 
raising and dairying, and these different interests can be profitably com- 
bined or alternated. For manuring these lands stable and barn yard 
manures are generally used, supplemented by special tobacco fertilizers 
manufactured by reliable firms, several of which are located in the city 
of Richmond, only forty miles from the center of this county, through 
which the R. F. & P. R. R. passes. Richmond is also our tobacco 
market. 

We have only space left to add a few results which have been achiev- 
ed by planters here, and a more definite idea of prices, which are taken 
from actual sales of the best class of planters. Many have bought land 
without a dollar and paid for it all together from tobacco, and have ad- 
ded other farms to their possessions. One planter gave $1500 for 300 
acres of land, planted six acres in tobacco and sold crop for $1600 net. 
There are many instances of planters commencing much in debt with 
mortgages on their property, and raising large families, who have paid 
their indebtedness, improved and added to their property — and all from 
tobacco. The following are some of the average prices of some of the 
best planters taken from their account of sales made during the last 
three years. We have only space to state the price per hundred: $8.50, 
$9.00, $10.50, $11.30, $11.50, $11.87, $12.00, $12.62, $13.00, $13.25, $14.00, $14.- 
50, $15.23, $19.76, $22.00, $18.50. But the greatest success yet achieved was 
made in a sale of this season ; the tobacco was raised in 1905. Four acres were 
planted; product 3865 pounds, and sold for $1160.17, averaging $30 per 
hundred and $290 per acre. The land was not very rich, and no manure, 
stable or barn yard, was applied this season; but 400 pounds of Star 
Brand special tobacco fertilizer was used to the acre. Three regular 
hands, two of them boys, were employed. In addition to the tobacco, 



12 HAND-BOOK OF CAROLINE COUNTY. 

625 bushels of corn, some wheat and a good crop of oats were made, and 
some stock raised and sold. 

No soil responds more promptly and generously to good cultivation 
and liberal fertilizing than that of Caroline county, Va. 



HISTORICAL. 

Having presented in the foregoing pages a brief synopsis of the 
material and agricultural value of our lands, the synopsis even would be 
incomplete with the omission of mention of a few of the men of national 
reputation which our County has furnished to the Republic — Among these 
we mention: 

Edmond Pendleton was born, in this county, in 1741 and died, in 
Richmond, in 1803. He was President of our Court of Appeals, and of 
the Va. Convention of 1775 and of the succeeding Convention of 1776 
which framed the State Constitution. He was a member of the House 
of Burgesses, was twice a member of Congress. In 1787 he was appoint- 
ed President of the Convention of Va., elected to consider the Constitu- 
tion of the United States, and employed his influence to obtain its adop- 
tion. In 1789 he was appointed Judge of the United States District 
Court for Virginia, but declined the office. He was appointed Judge of 
the high Court of Chancery soon after it was established; qualified in 
1779, and, in consequence thereof was, ex-officio, Presiding Judge of the 
first Court of Appeals, until its dissolution in 1789. In the same year he 
was made Presiding Judge of the new Court of Appeals, and held that 
situation, with the approbation of all parties, until his death October 
23rd., 1803. He held the first rank as a lawyer and statesman; and w 
particularly distinguished for the free and clearness of his thoughts, fo:< 
sublity in discrimination and dexterity of argument. 

General William Woodford, a revolutionary officer of high merit, 
was born in Caroline. He early distinguished himself in the French 
and Indian wars. In 1775 upon the assembling of the Virginia troops 
at Williamsburg, he was appointed Colonel of the second regiment. In 
the military operations immediately subsequent, in that section of the 
State, his name is honorably mentioned in history, particularly at the 
battle of the Great Bridge, fought Dec. 9th., upon which occasion he 
had the chief command, and gained a signal victory over the enemy. He 
was finally promoted to the command of the first Va. Brigade, in which 






HAND-BOOK OF CAROLINE COUNTY. 13 

station he served through the war. He was in various actions, one of 
which, the battle of Brandywine, he was wounded. He was made pris- 
oner by the British in 1780 during the seige of Charleston, and taken to 
New York, where he died on the 13th. of November of that year, in the 
46th. year of his age. 

Caroline was also the birth place of Colonel John Taylor, "one of the 
most zealous of the Republican party," and an intimate associate of 
Jefferson. "He represented Virginia in the United States Senate and 
was distinguished among the great and good men which this ancient 
commonwealth has produced. He did much toward advancing the 
science of a. .riculture in his native state, and was ever forward in pro- 
moting objects conducive to the public good. As a statesman, he is per- 
haps better known by his Construction Construed; and an inquiry into the 
Principals of the Government of the United States, which he published in 
1814. He also published several other treatises on various subjects. He 
died in this county, August 20th., 1824, ripe in years and honor." A 
county formed in now West Virginia, in the session of 1843-4 was named 
in his honor. Caroline has produced many other illustrious sons but 
space forbids even a brief biographical sketch. 



Any communications desiring information, addressed to the Clerk of 
the £ourt at Bowling Green, will be referred to responsible parties for 
reply. 

■ March, 1907. 



O O 

o o o 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




014 367 258 P |L, 



O OO OO OO OO GO oo oo o 

o o 

Q S. H.E r " 



o 

o 
o 



Guineys, Virginia, 
real estate agent. 






Virginia Farms a specialty. Send for my list of 

SELECT COUNTRY HOMES. 



O 

o 







oooooooooooooooo 









SS FARM LOANS 33 



— o — o-o — o- 



We have ready money to place on good real estate 
security and can arrange your loans without 
delay and at the right rate. 



THE CAROLINE COUNTY BANK, 

Bowling Green, Virginia. 

Authorized Capital $25,000. Assets $100,000,00. 
Organized 1902. 






James T. Richards, President. 
L. E. Martin, Cashier. 



Geo. P. Lyon, Vice-Pres. 

P. L. Haymond, Asst. Cashier. 



